Muscat: Numerous residences in Al Hail North are reportedly without power as workers race to repair a main junction box near the beach road.

The power outage was first reported this morning, and emergency crews have been working throughout the day to fix it.

"We had to perform emergency maintenance on the power supply point in Al Hail North," said an official from Muscat Electricity Distribution Company.

"We expect it to take at least 50 more minutes," he added, at the time of writing.

Speaking to the Times of Oman, Surinder said, "The power is out at the worst possible time. Its summer break for the kids, so they are at home. It is more than 40 degrees Celsius today, its unbearably hot. I hope this does not last long."

Aurengzeb, another expatriate residing in the area, told the Times of Oman he had take action to protect his family from the heat. "We all packed in the car and have been driving around for hours now, waiting for the power to come back on. Its better than remaining idle without air conditioning. At least this way the kids are happy."

A local, Omar, said: "It is really hot and I have two small children at home. I have been forced to drive them around all day to keep them cool because they will not be able to handle this heat. We have gone to shopping malls and supermarkets to finish the household chores, but mainly so that the children can keep cool."

In this context, an official from the Oman Investment and Finance Company, one of the billing collection agents for electricity and water services in Oman, said: "We sometimes get calls from people stating that their power has gone off, and although it is an emergency in this case, sometimes it is due to non-payment of bills."